I just had my lap band removed after 12 years which did nothing (DMC Detroit)and 13,000 back then.(Dr.Webber)

Why are these Doctors continuing to perform this as they know the band starts to come apart. Mine dropped which was pulling on a downward motion, having problems breathing and pain in my groin. Not once did I receive anything from Dr. Webber in DMC for a recall or it falls apart after 12 years....they just want to make the money...so after seeing him recently 7 months ago it was another 18,000 to go to a gastric sleeve....his team sucked could care less about the patient.

I did consult Doctors in Port Huron, Michigan and they wanted 25,000 to remove lap band and have the gastric sleeve performed.

I thought of Mexico...well that thought went out the door after contacting Dr. Pleatman in Michigan. After my orientation I was astounded on how mnay patients come from all over the country. That day one from Ohio, one from Indiana so the word is out.

The biggest seller is that he teaches these doctors the vertical sleeve operation. The doctor in Port Huron and many more in Michigan and Ohio.

So Dr. Pleatman performed my surgery 6 days ago and I feel great on the liquids following the guidelines. Well Done Dr. Pleatman.

Oh by the way he does not perform lap band surgeries....

The hospital was like a 5 star hotel, you had your own room just beautiful, nurses checking on you all the time. Awesome

I had my lap band in June 2014. My insurance would not cover any other kind of WLS, so I took what I could get and tried to make the best of it. I really believed in it and was really good about my follow up until I got laid off. My insurance with my new job did not cover after care so after a while I couldn't afford to go as often. This was all with True Results, who went out of business. I was never able to eat the high protein like they told me to. All meats make me stuck even now. It is so much easier to get junk to go down and I get extremely hungry which was not supposed to happen. I did my shakes, ate cheese and nuts until I was just sick of it.

I also suffered an extreme loss during the early stages and my depression and anxiety skyrocketed. I have since had no fills or anything for almost 2 years and have no idea what is going on inside of me. I did have a pouching and got the fluid mostly removed and then replaced just before stopping my visits. I have never stopped the mucus and coughing, which is worse now and I am suddenly diagnosed with asthma and am on a daily steroid inhaler due to mucus build up. I am certain that it is a result of the band and my body hating it. I am on daily Zantac and still have GERD.

I just changed to a job with awesome insurance and I pray that I can get this evil thing removed on insurance. I don't want anything to do with revision, I just want my life back. Another good thing about my new benefits is that they have nutrition counselors and incentives for being healthy. I can also get counseling covered to help get me back on track. My son is getting married in June and I wanted so badly to lose before his wedding, but if I can't successfully eat a healthy diet of meat and veggies, how can I do that? I feel like a huge failure, but my stress levels are so high that I need this out so that I don't have a panic attack every time that I have to eat something just in case I get stuck. I travel a lot for my job and I can't count the times that I have had to wait in line on the plane praying that I get in there before I barf all over myself. Or trying to vomit quietly in a public restroom of a busy airport. An added problem is that vomiting like that has led to urinary incontinence from the daily physical stress. I also only ever lost a total of less than 30 ponds and am now only down 15 from my surgery date. It has done me no good and I am constantly sick.

Am I the last person to finally admit that this thing doesn't work, at least for me? I never looked for lap band failures when I was researching this. Guess I just expected that everyone loved it! Now I am seeing so many that had them removed before I was even considering this whole WLS journey. I am desperate, depressed and constantly anxious. Someone tell me that removing this doesn't have to mean that I will be miserable and hate myself for failing!

Yes, I agree that RNY is what I would go with for the GERD as well. Not sure if I will be heading that way someday as right now I am concentrating on my healing. Good Luck to you.

I just had to have my lap band removed after 11 years too. It slipped so bad it was cutting off my small intestine and my GERD was off the charts. It feels great not having GERD, but I am not sure about revision in the future. The doctor wouldn't even consider revision during the removal because my stomach was so swollen and damaged.
Mary

Do you still have? Really need. Thanks. Not sure how to pm